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10 Ways to Improve Follower Retention on Twitter
By now, I’m assuming most of you have gone through and added all of these amazing entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. Hopefully, some of them have added you back. Now, your mission is to make sure the people following you on Twitter keep following you. You don’t want to be the victim of someone’s spring cleaning of their following list.
How can you improve your follower retention on Twitter? Start by following these 10 tips.
1. Remember Why People Follow You- This is the first thing you have to figure out. Unless they’re just desperate for more friends, people usually have a specific reason for following you. If your Twitter account is for professional networking, they most likely want to hear your thoughts on relevant industry topics. In other words, they don’t want to read about you clipping your toenails or getting in a fight with your significant other.
2. Determine Why People Quit You- It’s a sad fact of Twitter life, but people will unfollow you at some point. You need to figure out why they’re doing it. One handy tool for doing this is Qwitter. This will send you an alert letting you know the exact moment someone stops following you. It will show your most recent Tweet with the hopes that will shed some light on the situation. If that doesn’t help, ask yourself if you’re living up to your expectations from tip #1.
3. Interact with Your Followers- Twitter is a social tool. So, you need to be social. Don’t just send one-way Tweets. Interact with the people you’re following. Someone is much less likely to drop you if you engage with them on a regular basis. Remember, social networking is about building connections. The only to build strong connections is to chat it up.
4. Don’t Over Tweet- Maybe I’m being anal, but one of the things that leads me to unfollow someone is when they drop 50 Tweets in the span of a few short minutes. It’s like the guy at the conference who tries to take over the show by asking 10,000 questions. Let everyone share the floor. Tweet your heart out, but just be careful not to overdo it.
5. Don’t Under Tweet Either- If you don’t give your Twitter account any attention, you’re begging to be wiped away when someone starts trimming their following list. It goes back to tip#3—if people don’t know you, they’ll have little problem dropping you like a bad habit. Keep your visibility up by making at least a few quality posts each day.
6. Keep Self-Promotion to a Minimum- Is there anything more disappointing than following a new user only to find that every one of their updates is a link to some crappy blog post they wrote? Even worse is when they constantly Tweet about how great their company is or why you should do business with them. Look, a little self-promotion is expected. But keep it at a minimum. It’s not an infomercial; it’s Twitter.
7. Lend a Helping Hand- Instead of constantly promoting yourself, lend a helping hand to some of your connections on Twitter. If you see somebody wrote a good post, do them the favor of Retweeting it. They’ll be appreciative, and it shows others you aren’t just in it for yourself.
8. Be a Resource- If you really want people to continue following you, make it impossible for them to leave by making high quality updates. Whether this is linking out to a great tool or article or simply giving a thoughtful opinion in a discussion, people won’t stop following someone who’s a great resource.
9. Stop Whining- Here’s a surefire way to start losing followers—constantly complain about your life. One of the best things about working from home is I don’t have to listen to people gripe all day about inconsequential things. No one cares if McDonalds messed up your order or if your boss is a jerk; stop whining!
10.Be Yourself- Yes, this sounds like something out of a cheesy motivational video, but it’s true. People follow you because they care what you think. Just be yourself, and people will respect that. It’s the only way you’ll truly stand out from the masses.
What tips would you add to this list? Share them in the replies!
16 Comments
Wilhelm Murdoch said on December 3, 2008
Another great article, Eric! I’m a true believer in #10, hell, just read some of the garbage I post:
http://twitter.com/wilhelm
el oh el
Justin Nowak said on December 4, 2008
And remember ” I ate oatmeal today, LoLz” is not a worth twitter update… Please make it worthwhile when you post!
Bobette Kyle said on December 4, 2008
Another idea for retaining followers: Get them involved by asking them what they think, what they need help with, for their ideas, or their opinions for a research project. Makes them feel valued.
http://Twitter.com/BobetteKyle
Eric Brantner said on December 4, 2008
@Bobette- That’s a great point. The more valued you make your followers feel, the likelier they’ll be to continue following you and to really pay attention to what you say.
Chris said on December 7, 2008
Great Article. I’ve been looking for ways to get the most out of Twitter since it’s such an awkward little tool.
I tend to go in spurts where for a week I’ll be all over it, then the next week I forget all about it. Suppose that’s a no-no when it comes to keeping followers.
I like the tip about value as well…good stuff guys.
Dr Wright said on December 7, 2008
Why would you want to increase follower retention? You only want true fans following you in the first place. If you are not polarizing people, you have not really made a stand. People should know when they have made a mistake in following you and be let go easily.
People follow you because they like what you are doing and saying and they unfollow when they no longer like it for whatever reasons. I say, let those people go so they can spend time on finding someone they really can relate to.
Dr. Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://www.wrightplacetv.com
http://www.twitter.com/drwright1
Eric Brantner said on December 7, 2008
@ Dr. Wright-
Why would you want to increase follower retention? Because without followers, there is no point to having a Twitter account. I think you’re misunderstanding who this article is aimed at. This is for entrepreneurs and small business owners who are using Twitter to increase awareness and interest in their brand.
I agree that if someone isn’t interested in you, you don’t need them following you. Notice the first point on this list “remember why people follow you.” So, this post is written under the assumption that your followers are interested in what you have to say, but it’s designed to make sure they don’t lose interest through silly mistakes and oversights.
Dr.Mani said on December 13, 2008
Eric, EXCELLENT tips. Appreciate it a lot. Have re-tweeted it too.
All success
Dr.Mani
I tweet as @drmani
Matt | Small Biz Bee said on December 13, 2008
I think keeping a tweet balance is important. Interact with your followers, ask them questions, share your thoughts, share links, pictures, videos etc. Try to make it a variety and they won’t loose interest.
Matt
justin said on December 13, 2008
i really like when people share interesting links. it has brought my atttenttion to blogs i may have not seen before!
Jared Lyda said on December 19, 2008
Thanks for your tips. I’ve just started using twitter and have needed easy to apply insights regarding it. I’ve found some other lists but they haven’t been as concise as yours.
Jared
http://www.fireandmotionblog.com
Blog Income Report said on December 22, 2008
I think I am doing something right then. Almost 800 followers and no Qwitters is over 3 weeks. Either that or Qwitter has stopped working :|
http://twitter.com/DotComDud
Dean Holland said on January 5, 2009
Hi Eric,
Just discovered your blog in some top 100 blogs list.. Thats a great acheivement huh bro !!
I just started blogging about 2 months ago and for the first time I am finally having a level of success online.. I can now say.. This stuff really works !! lol
You have a lot of great information on here brother and I thankyou for sharing it and being an inspiration to me.
In regards to Twitter I have just been trying out a tactic over the last week to gain followers as I have just started using it (properly)
So what I have been doing is targeting people in my niche ( IM ) and following them. I also seek out some of the top earning big boys in the game and follow them also. I am finding that most follow me back !!
I have gone from around 70 followers to nearly 900 in just 1 week :)
All by spending 15 - 20 minutes a day just following people
Hope that helps others !!
I’ll keep in touch
Dean
http://www.DeanHolland.com
Dat To said on January 7, 2009
Great Article. I am new to twitter, so articles like yours help a lot, because the tendency is to puke on everyone.
Mass Media Web Design said on February 24, 2009
#3 is the absolute most important tip for me. People are just waiting for a reason to Tweet. if you interact with them and give them a reason to then they’ll be much more likely to hang on to you. Also, if they’re replying to you then THEIR followers will be curious to see who they’re talking to and check YOU out.
Karl Foxley said on March 1, 2009
Great post. I definitely think that #9 is a real turn off when following someone… and #10 goes without saying…
Regards,
Karl
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